Nottingham Developed Platform Puts Mental Wellbeing in the Hands of City Youngsters

Nottingham Developed Platform Puts Mental Wellbeing in the Hands of City Youngsters

AN INNOVATIVE app which helps users to track how they feel to then make practical and positive improvements is being piloted by a team of Nottingham youngsters following the formation of a partnership between Instinct Laboratory and local charity Switch Up.

The app was originally developed for use in the sporting arena with some leading international teams already benefitting from how the technology aids a greater understanding of mental wellbeing and emotions leading to offending behaviour. After learning about the important work of Switch Up, former Nottingham Panther and now Instinct Laboratory team member David Clarke approached charity founder Marcellus Baz BEM.

The platform which use an app as the vehicle to capture emotion is now being trialled with a group of young people to see how greater awareness of their feelings and emotions helps them to deal with daily challenges. The users will then have the chance for leading psychologists to look at their results with eventual recommendations on positive changes to their typical daily routine.

Marcellus Baz BEM said: “I’m grateful to David and the wider team at Instinct Laboratory for giving some of our kids the chance to see how this app could work for them.

“This app is there for them 24/7, even when they are dealing with some difficult emotions – as a charity with limited resource, this is an amazing tool to be able to offer to them. An app is also perfect for these kids as they are so comfortable using their phones for everything. Plus, entering text is so much easier for them than approaching someone and speaking out loud about any problems. The parents are also over the moon that their children have an alternative way to communicate and get support.”

David Clarke added: “We’ve seen some amazing results in the sporting world with this app and now we’re really hoping that some of the young people at Switch Up can similarly benefit. Providing a new communication method and helping them to recognise and identify how they feel and what triggers these emotions, will hopefully be a huge boost to the charity’s fantastic and invaluable work.”

Switch Up and Nottingham School of Boxing use physical activity, mentorship, counselling and education to help young people with complex issues. For further information visit http://www.marcellusbaz.co.uk/.